Two and Through: Harvard Swept

In the span of one afternoon, Harvard’s season went from promising to over.

The Crimson was swept off O’Donnell Field in two games by Princeton on Saturday, eliminating it from the best-of-three Ivy Championship Series and ending a campaign that seemed destined to culminate in another Ancient Eight title.

But the visiting Tigers (18-23-1) intervened, bouncing Harvard (21-20-1) with superior pitching and timely hitting in 9-3 and 8-2 victories and earning the Ivies’ automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

“It was just a tough day,” Crimson head coach Joe Walsh said. “That’s it. There was no turnaround point...I thought the best they could do against us was split. We didn’t do a good enough job; they beat us hitting-wise [and] pitching-wise.”

PRINCETON 8, HARVARD 2

Princeton first baseman Stephen Wendell took Taylor Meehan’s ground ball to the bag himself for the game’s final out, prompting the Tiger bench to erupt in celebration as the heartbroken Crimson looked on.

“They were celebrating on the field,” Harvard starter Adam Cole said, “I remember looking at the picture of us on our field celebrating and then seeing them have that kind of experience. It’s really frustrating, especially after having so much confidence going in.”

Princeton exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning to chase Cole from the game and build an insurmountable lead in its series-clinching win.

Cole, who had allowed just one hit through the first five frames, appeared rattled by a pair of errors to start the inning—a booted groundball by shortstop Morgan Brown that allowed leadoff hitter Dan DeGeorge to reach and a high pickoff throw that permitted him to move to second—and, after hitting a batter, surrendered an RBI double to Zach Wendkos, a two-run double to Sal Iacono, and a walk before exiting with the score 3-1.

“I thought Cole came out pretty good,” Walsh said. “I thought his undoing was when he threw that ball over to first base. I thought he lost a lot of his focus right there.”

Senior Javier Castellanos was ineffective in relief of Cole, allowing both inherited runners and two additional Tigers to score on three hits in two-thirds of an inning.

“Games like this, when you have everybody ready and your back’s against the wall, you make moves,” Walsh said. “Castellanos came in and hit bats. He didn’t have much.”

The Crimson tried to chip away with a single run in the seventh on a single from the sophomore Meehan, a double by junior catcher Andrew Casey and a RBI groundout off the bat of Matt Vance, but Princeton, acting as the home team in Game 2, answered with a run in the bottom half to push its edge back to six at 8-2. Eric Walz slammed the door on Harvard, throwing 2 2/3 perfect innings in support of starter Christian Staehely, who was officially charged with two runs on six hits and three walks in his outing.

“Princeton really came out to play,” Cole said. “The first time we played them, we were especially sharp, and it was early in the season for them. I think they were a much better team this time around. We didn’t get it done yesterday.”

The Crimson had staked Cole to a slim 1-0 lead in the fifth inning, also courtesy of Meehan and Casey, who, with two hits apiece, accounted for four of Harvard’s six hits in the game. Until he ran into trouble in the sixth, it appeared as if Cole had all the support that he would need. With the loss, he finished with a record of 2-4 in a season that will likely compete for Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors.

PRINCETON 9, HARVARD 3

Princeton got to Crimson ace hurler Shawn Haviland early and often in the opener, beginning with a two-run blast in the top of the first inning that gave the Tigers an early lead and ending with a two-run dunker in the eighth that put the game out of reach.

After Andrew Salini worked out a two-out walk against Haviland in the first, Wendkos drove a low fastball over the wall in left-center, silencing the home crowd and putting Princeton in front, 2-0.

“We were a little stunned,” Walsh said. “All of a sudden, we’re down.”

The Tigers tacked on three more in the third on a RBI single by Salini and a two-run homer by Iacono that, as with Wendkos’, got into the wind and carried out in left field.

“I thought Haviland pitched well and I thought Cole pitched well,” Walsh said. “They didn’t pitch outstanding.”

Harvard, in the midst of a subpar performance from its stopper, remained resilient, rallying for three runs with two outs in the fourth on consecutive base hits from third baseman Steffan Wilson and seniors Matt Brunnig, Brown, and Chris Mackey. Mackey provided the big hit with a two-run single to right field.

“We came back, 5-3, and I thought ‘Here we go’,” Walsh said. “I really, really felt like we were going to get the day going.”

But Haviland and Princeton ace Erik Stiller cruised through the middle innings as the score remained 5-3 until the eighth, when the Tigers broke through yet again. DeGeorge dropped his third hit of the game, a soft looping liner, into shallow center field, plating two.

Sophomore Brad Unger then came on for Haviland, who, all told, allowed seven earned runs on eleven hits—by far his worst showing of the Ivy League season—and gave up a two-run ground-rule double to Wendkos that sealed it.

Stiller went the distance for Princeton, scattering nine hits and striking out six in a 121-pitch complete game.

—Staff writer Jonathan Lehman can be reached at jlehman@fas.harvard.edu.